Chile Forum

I’m aware that this has been addressed before, but perhaps today it’s different...

I’m a US citizen and plan to move to Chile to stay for over a year. Can anybody put together a laundry list of steps I should take here now to be able to have easy access to modest amounts of money from a bank account I have here, while I’m there.

Have a bank account that offers you a debit/check card with reasonable ATM withdrawals outside of the country. Some folks on the board have suggested e-trade accounts, which seem pretty attractive. Keep in mind that some ATM's in Chile, and some places in Chile don't accept VISA - crazy huh? Pay close attention to the bank paperwork...some banks offer you those lovely cards, but will charge a percentage of your out-of-country withdrawal, PLUS an outrageous fee for each transaction. It's also useful to have a bank that offers online banking so you can monitor your account and if you have a problem, you can contact them immediately. I'm sure there are other things to consider, but none come to my simplistic mind!

Vicki

Best compilation updated continually by users of USA ATM debit and credit cards on the net:

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Cr ... n_Exchange

Thank you, guys.

BTW, is Banco de Chile of any help in this, or no?

It seems that now Citibank and Banco de Chile are associated, somehow (http://www.bancochileus.com/). One might think that you could open an account with Citi in the States, a then make withdrawals in Banco de Chile there.

Well... that sounds too easy to be possible, doesn’t it?

It is. Chilean law no longer allows it.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Best compilation updated continually by users of USA ATM debit and credit cards on the net:

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Cr ... n_Exchange

I checked some of the 0% ATM cards listed at that site. I'm always concerned about high minimum-balance requirements since I'm only looking to have backup ATM access (using Schwab's online banking to move money around if I have to). The following 0% cards looked good to me:

BofI.com (bankofinternet.com)
- No minimum balance required for "Senior" and "Boomer" checking (age 50+ and 40+, respectively).
- $100 US minimum for Basic checking (everyone else).

Capitalone.com
- No minimum balance for High Yield Money Market Savings (comes with ATM card).

BankDirect.com
- $2500 US minimum balance for checking.
- $0 minimum balance for savings, and free ATM card upon request.

Presidential.com
- $0 to $1000 US minimum balance depending on account.
- Accounts with lower minimums are limited to 6 transactions per statement cycle, only 3 can be ATM transactions.

I know Charles (admin) likes eTrade. (They say they have a 1% foreign-transaction fee. Charles indicates he hasn't seen it.). But, they have a $5k US minimum for checking, $1k US minimum for savings. eTrade pays excellent interest rates. If someone had money they wanted to park and earn interest, it would be a good deal. I'm reluctant to tie up a lot of money just for a backup to what I already have.

I think you mentioned EvergreenBank.com has free outgoing wire transfers. I may open an account there just as a backup for Washington Mutual's free outgoing wire transfer. They have $0 minimum checking, $25 US savings. (Washington Mutual has $0 minimum).

I think I'll get the first three of the above, and link them to my Schwab Bank account (0%). I assume the flyerguide web site is correct about 0%. I'll have to confirm.

BTW: A 1% transaction fee doesn't sound bad (if you get a fair exchange rate). It's reasonable to expect some cost in converting money. But, nothing wrong with taking advantage of the better deals when they're available. I wouldn't feel bad if terms of service change and I get 1%. Exchange rates changed that much in one day 3 out of 5 days last week.

Mark

This is quite enlightening. You seem to have a knack for ferreting out these bank deals. Keep ‘em coming.

I never did any banking transactions over the Internet, but it seems I have no choice if I’m going to reside abroad and want to have ready access to my money. I am preparing a hard drive just for this purpose, but I’m obsessed about Internet security. I was experimenting with Ubuntu 8.04, but after I ran a couple of tests (Symantec and ShielsUp), I was rather disappointed. My old setups with Win98SE and Win2k proved to be much better. According to the tests, my machines are “invisible” in cyberspace. Nevertheless, has anybody had any trouble with online banking?

El Zorro wrote:Nevertheless, has anybody had any trouble with online banking?

Security is never perfect. One extreme is the free VMWare Player at (http://vmware.com/products/player/) and secure web browser appliance (http://www.vmware.com/appliances/direct ... erapp.html).

If you're not familiar with this, VMWare is a virtual machine which you can run in Windows or Linux. Player is a free implementation which allows people to "play" images created by people who own the commercial product. They're called "appliances." VMWare also offers a free "server" edition. But, it's not optimized for desktop functions (sluggish). But, there are ways to create your own custom appliances using "server" without buying the software to do it. Then "play" them in "player" which is optimized for desktop use. (If you want to do that, let me know and I'll look for the web sites that describe how it's done.).

In this case, the appliance is designed to do nothing but give you a virtual Linux OS which does nothing more than run a browser. When you end the VM guest, everything you did is gone. Cookies. Spyware. Keystrokes. When you start the VM again, it knows nothing about your previous execution. If spyware gets onto your host OS (which the player is running on) you'll be exposed. But, this kind of virtualization is supposed to prevent spyware from reaching your host OS.

At the other extreme is just using safe practices. Don't install toolbars on your browser. Don't agree to download software in order to browse a site. Don't act upon phishing email (asking for account details, or referring you to a site to do so). Don't use internet cafes. Put your computer behind a router using NAT translation (ex. a Linksys WRT54G, and use a WAP key so nobody locally can get access to your 129.168.x.x subnet, which would be a lot like having no firewall.). Run Lavasoft's free Adware/spyware checker.

I lean towards the latter. Except I rely upon two-factor authentication to control my financial accounts. Schwab and PayPal offer this device. (Free at Schwab. $5 at PayPal). It's just one of these key fobs (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/websc ... ey-outside). When you login, you use your password and the number currently displayed on the key fob.

If spyware obtains your password, nobody can use it without the passcode (which is only good for 30 seconds). If you lose the key fob, nobody can use it without having the password. It's a good layer of protection.

All my backup bank accounts are linked at Schwab and PayPal. I can only initiate transfers from/to the bank accounts from those locations. If spyware captures my password at any bank account, they can't do anything because there's not much money there. They can't drain other accounts.

The only other thing I do is use different passwords everywhere. And, I use fake answers to "secret questions." To me, "secret questions" are a huge security hole. The answers are factual (meaning they're more than just guessable). And, they're shared. (A secret isn't a secret when it's shared.). The problem with using fake/random answers to secret questions is you can't remember them. So, I keep them written down in a little book. Writing down challenge responses is usually a bad idea. But, I trust my ability to secure my little book more than I trust strangers to keep shared-secrets secure.

For me, that's good enough. I've seen other things, like a Linux OS on a USB flash drive, with various web proxy/anonymizing software, firewall, disk encryption. That's the ultimate security. You could plug it into an internet cafe computer, boot from the USB drive, and leave no signs at all of your activities. But, the last time I looked at it, it was *slow*.

I've read Charles (admin) critical comments about PayPal. I don't know if Google Checkout lets you link to accounts. And, more importantly, whether they offer two-factor authentication.

If you consider doing something like this, you might check whether eTrade offers the two-factor key fob. eTrade seems to have better interest rates than Schwab. They say their ATM card is 1%. But, Charles says he consistently gets 0%. That might be a better way to go. But, I wouldn't do anything without two-factor authentication (to control multiple bank accounts from that one account).

Mark

[Duplicate posting deleted.]

El Zorro wrote:Nevertheless, has anybody had any trouble with online banking?

Not I, though I've conducted it for only a year or so -- and continue to be borderline paranoid about the security embodied.

El Zorro wrote:Nevertheless, has anybody had any trouble with online banking?

Heavy online banking user probably for the past 10 years. Never had a hacking or spyware problem yet. Only use my own computers for access. Frequently check my accounts to make sure nothing is amiss. Am alert for any new methods the scammers may be using. Could not be a PT type expat without online banking. YMMV.

Forgot to add: been a Macuser the whole time from Classic OS to OS 10 Leopard.